Build lasting habits to improve your emotional health

Surely throughout your working life you have encountered some situation that affected your emotional well-being. A lot of research shows that we live in a society where we spend a large part of our day at work and where approx. 40% of people’s emotional problems originate in the workplace. The concept of resilience to mental health and psychological well-being refers to those measures that need to be taken so that the organization and workers enjoy the best possible quality of life by changing their work habits and patterns.

Therefore, this article will offer five points to promote emotional well-being on a personal level and five points that every company should follow so that this well-being becomes a lasting habit for its employees.

Throughout our working lives, we encounter many stressful situations that affect both our physical and mental health. The work environment and climate are very important pillars for people’s emotional well-being. When they are unpleasant, have a disqualifying or aggressive tone, emotional problems can arise that harm our well-being in other areas of our lives.

The emotional well-being It is defined as a general state in which people realize that we have the right skills to face the pressures of everyday life and overcome the problems or obstacles that arise.

In order to achieve this state and to have a mental functioning that will allow us to adapt adequately to the demands of the environment that surrounds us, it is necessary achieving balance in all aspects of our lives: physical, mental, emotional, social, family and work. If we manage to feel good about ourselves, we will be able to extrapolate that feeling into other areas such as work.

To achieve this balance and improve your emotional state in a lasting way, psychologists recommend the following points.

1. Follow healthy habits: sleep enough hours to feel rested we wear a balanced diet and does physical exercises, are the three initial keys to follow in order to feel good. When we feel good, we are able to give much more of ourselves, achieving a very positive impact on our mental health, preventing depression, anxiety, emotional loss of control and making us able to cope with everyday situations.
2. We listen to our own body: we understand that our well-being comes first and that self-care is a priority in order to be healthy and feel capable. This is not a selfish or irresponsible act, but rather a long-term investment that we will gradually see reflected in all our vital projects. It is important to pay attention to the signals of the body (fatigue, contractures, pain) and determine what the limits are so we can act before our psychological well-being is affected.
3. Have good interpersonal relationships: it is important that our life and free time go beyond work so that we are not overwhelmed by the work day. Make plans with friends or family outside this environment and we continue to enjoy our hobbies and activities that bring us pleasurethey will keep our minds recharged and ready to face all the new challenges that work entails.
4. Job skills required for the job. Get an upgrade in qualities like assertiveness, empathy, positivism, frustration toleranceIt will be essential to know how to work as a team and adapt to work requirements and demands, adopting a collaborative, positive and proactive attitude. Also, working in a improve time management This will help us to be better organized to avoid the burden and stress generated by leaving everything to the last minute.
5. Conduct individual therapy. Going to a psychologist is an essential act if we are to take care of our mental health and achieve full emotional well-being. Communicating and talking about problems helps to find solutions and unload negative emotions that, if kept inside, will eventually overflow. Going to therapy will help prevent this from happening and offer us strategies and tools needed to deal with problems. Likewise, it will help us to have proper emotional management.

After working on the points that improve personal well-being, it is important that in the organizational sphere Measures are taken to promote the development of healthy skills and habits among employees. so that the prosperity we have received does not diminish. If a company wants to have good workers, its priority should be to encourage the creation and absorption of good habits and to promote the quality of the state of mind of its personnel.

For this, the Psychology of Work and Organizations recommends the following points:

1. Implementing measures that protect the well-being of its employees: in relation to the organization of tasks, rearrangement of loads or rhythms; offering flexibility in the location of the work and the time allocated to its performance, as well as in the pace of work; In terms of relationships: Maintain a zero-tolerance policy regarding harassment; workplace harassment or discrimination, and engaging in confident communication and positive relationships; respect for people: facilitating autonomy in their work and personal development and finally, promoting leadership that favors a positive climate of commitment and good work.
2. Promoting the movement of workers: enable the realization ofactive holidays” in which to walk a little and stretch to achieve an increase in productivity and creativity and avoid monotony.
3. Offer leave to the employee: To prevent the worker from eventually generating a sense of work fatigue, it is important to provide him with time to devote to activities that stimulate his mind and that allow him to act and make a difference before work overwhelms him.
4. Promoting a pleasant environment: keep a tidy workspace, have all necessary and essential materials at hand, create a healthy environment, with good temperature and good lighting, add decorative elements in the office that motivate and encourage positive emotions, such as pictures, plants or create designated spaces just to switch off .
5. Promoting mental health care: Offer therapy and mindfulness methods to manage and mitigate the effects of stress and anxiety. It is important from the company that promoting programs aimed at managing stress and anxiety, whether individual therapies with accredited psychologists or relaxation therapies, mindfulness exercises and mindfulness. A safe space needs to be offered where the worker understands that they don’t have to feel bad if they see that they can’t handle everything and that sometimes an outside perspective is needed and it’s not wrong to ask for help.

Finally, remember this orof good emotional health, will help increase our perception of ourselves and our confidence in our abilities. Also “healthy company” will be one that cares about the health and well-being of its workers, their families and the social environment, encouraging the creation of lasting habits that generate positive performance that benefits both the organization and the individual.

Authorship: Content written by TherapyChat’s Clinical Content Team, led by Isabel Aranda, Health Psychologist and Chief Content Officer.